Dr. W. Jarrard Goodwin, head and neck cancer (HNC) surgeon at Sylvester Cancer Center, is Project Director of a Bankhead-Coley 2009 Grant that represents an unprecedented partnership between researchers and physicians in Florida to treat and understand cancers associated with the throat and mouth. “Through this grant, we have brought new people into our field and have formed a talented, diverse team of experts working on four projects. Along with Co-Director, Dr. Jennifer Hu, we have brought together a team of surgeons, oncologists, pathologists, epidemiologists, and basic scientists from the University of Miami, Moffitt Cancer Center, and the Mayo Clinic, Rochester,” explained Dr. Goodwin. Other institutional collaborations are emerging as the team gains momentum.

Diverse Team Moves New Treatment Closer to Patients

“We cure approximately half of patients who are diagnosed with squamous cell cancer of the throat and mouth. We have seen some improvement with quality of life with these patients, but have seen less improvement with the cure rate.”

“Through the Bankhead-Coley grant, we are working on new patient treatments to improve survival and quality of life through targeted treatments, which do not harm healthy tissue. This grant funds some of our time, supplies, and laboratory technicians who are necessary to do this work.”

Designed to develop strong interdisciplinary teams of researchers who can compete successfully for large National Cancer Institute grants, this project brings “some of our most talented researchers, Drs. Gilboa and Barber, into the head and neck oncology field. They had dramatic discoveries in the laboratory that we believe can help HNC patients,” explained Dr. Goodwin. “Bringing physician scientists, who speak the language of the lab and the clinic, alongside laboratory scientists accelerates the translation of their findings into new patient treatments.”

The team is successfully moving a number of cancer treatmentThe team is successfully moving a number of cancer treatments forward. One innovative approach uses a virus that causes cancer cells to wither and die, but leaves normal cells unharmed. Another approach seeks to neutralize a protein secreted by the most dangerous cancer cells by using an injection to make the cancer cells more treatable. Yet another investigator is applying an approach that lessens the immune system’s tolerance to cancer cells. In addition, the team has formed an important partnership with researchers at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, who are extending this research to liver cancer.

“This grant is making it possible to translate the scientific potential of the laboratory into the possible benefit of patients,” explained Dr. Goodwin. “When you combine experts in the molecular biology of cancer with experts in the clinical treatment of cancer to develop new approaches, progress happens.”

What’s the next step in realizing patient benefits from this research? The team is now designing a Phase 1 clinical trial for human testing; in early 2012, they expect to submit the project to the FDA for new drug approval testing.

Looking for Answers to the Differences in Head and Neck Cancer Outcomes

Other components of this comprehensive project are looking at differences among HNC patients. For example, African American patients experience a slightly higher incidence of HNC and don’t do as well with the disease as Hispanic and white patients do. Additionally, they seem to develop the cancer at a younger age, which is a clue that the reason for these differences is partially genetic. The team is examining HNC outcomes in African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white patients. They hope to explain differences in survival and use this understanding to develop treatments that are more effective.

Both Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and Sylvester Cancer Center are contributing tissue samples for the research. This combined effort will bring a composite picture of three races, enabling study and discovery otherwise not occurring.